Middle East

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Monday 14th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hague]

Absolutely. That is important and urgent work, and my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State met Lady Ashton on Friday to discuss it in detail. It is one of the main ways in which we can assist in Egypt. The taskforce is doing its work in Brussels, and the United Kingdom will be very much part of that. I believe that we will be able to co-ordinate what we are doing across the European Union to give a serious measure of support to the process of change in Egypt.

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

I congratulate the Foreign Secretary on what he has said today and, indeed, on what he said on the eve of his regional tour last week about the added urgency that the happy events in Egypt give to restarting the middle east peace process, but can he reassure the House that the American Administration share his analysis and, more importantly, are prepared to put on Israel the requisite pressure which, as we know from our experience of the past 20 years, is the only thing that will lead to a lasting solution?

[Mr Hague]

I discussed that with Secretary Clinton yesterday. I think that we should salute the efforts that she and former Senator George Mitchell have made in recent times. I am very conscious from all the meetings and discussions that I have had with them since May last year of the sheer energy and time that they put into trying to ensure that direct talks continued after September, when they unfortunately came to a halt.

The position that I have said that the United States and all of us should take is not yet the position of the United States, but I have informed the House openly that it is what we are advocating. I should have liked the statement on parameters to which I referred to be part of the Quartet statement issued in Munich just over a week ago. It was not part of that, but we will continue to advocate it, and I hope that it will become part of the approach of the whole Quartet, including the United States.